Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and my good friend from Massachusetts for recognizing me.

I'm very proud that this was the first bill that was reported from our Telecommunications Subcommittee this year. We had extensive hearings last year on the bill, and this bill is truly bipartisan.

I want to thank the ranking member, Mr. Barton, for working with me on this bill, as well as Chairman Dingell, Mr. Stearns and of course my friend, Ed Markey.

When people look at their caller ID, they have a right to believe and expect that the number that is there and the name of the person who is listed there is truly the number and the name of the person calling them. And I was shocked when I first heard that can you manipulate both the name and the number. In fact, there are Web sites, you only have to dial a Web site and pay a fee and you can manipulate the name, the number. And there's even technology where you can change the sound of a person's voice. So a 50-year-old male calling can sound like a 21-year- old female, and the name is different, and the phone number is different. That should not be.

Constituents thought they were receiving calls from congressional offices at one time, and these calls turned out to be far from appropriate.

Think of the mischief that can continue to happen. Unscrupulous people can trick unsuspecting victims to release personal information such as credit card numbers or Social Security numbers. It's easy for someone to pretend to be with Chase Manhattan or Citibank when you take a look and you see it says Chase Manhattan or Citibank and a number, and someone calls and says, well, we just need to verify your Social Security number with your account, and perhaps a senior citizen or someone else would feel that they could trust the caller ID and give personal information. This has to stop.

Having investigated this issue in great depth, I became convinced that what was happening was only a harbinger of things to come. There's a strong possibility that more and more

people will use this technology in political campaigns. Imagine calling someone at 2 o'clock in the morning and having the number of the opposite political campaign calling you to say vote for this candidate. So this is ridiculous.

You could have insulting, slanderous, racist, sexist calls, and people would think when they look at their caller ID that it's somebody else calling, not the person who is calling.

Both the gentleman from Massachusetts and the gentleman from Florida pointed out numerous instances. So this is truly a bipartisan piece of legislation, one that is needed, one that the American public is probably not aware that needs to be corrected. People just don't think that this can happen. They believe in what the caller ID says.

So I urge my colleagues to give this important legislation strong support. This is a good step towards protecting our Nation from this emerging technology. And again, the people who use this have to have the intent to defraud in order to come under this statute. So this protects everybody, as Mr. Markey pointed out.

There may be some instances, Mr. Stearns pointed out, where we would want to protect this technology, where we would not want to give the correct ID. This shows that if you have the intent to defraud, you can be prosecuted under this. So it strikes a fair balance. Those were the hearings that we had.

And, again, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill, and I'm pleased to be the sponsor of this legislation.

I want to assure the gentlewoman that this bill does not confer or authorize any new powers for any intelligence or law enforcement agency, nor does it prohibit any lawfully authorized investigative, protective or intelligence activity of a law enforcement agency of the United States, a State or a political subdivision of a State, or of an intelligence agency of the United States.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to announce the introduction of the Greenhouse Gas Accountability Act of 2007. This legislation can serve as an essential first step in a comprehensive policy to combat climate change.

When constructing a comprehensive, economy-wide global warming policy, what is the first thing we have to know? It is what we are currently emitting, who is emitting it, and data on where in the economy it makes sense to regulate. The biggest mistake the EU made in creating its cap and trade system was distributing credits without having a good idea of its emissions first. This resulted in power companies being given more credits they needed. In turn these power companies were able to sell their excess credits and gain a windfall rather than being forced to reduce emissions.

This comprehensive registry will give us all the data we need to craft future legislation and intelligently decide how to allocate credits. I am not suggesting that this legislation act as a substitute to a cap and trade program, however. Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Dingell and Chairman Boucher have all pledged to bring a comprehensive cap and trade bill to the House floor by the end of this year. I applaud these efforts and that is why I am a cosponsor of two of the most prominent cap and trade bills in the House today. At the very least I hope the Greenhouse Gas Accountability Act can become an amendment to one of these worthy cap and trade proposals.

Not only will this bill lay the groundwork for future legislation on climate change, but the bill will serve other important functions as well. For instance, by requiring greenhouse gas reports by entity and by facility investors will be able accurately assess the risks and opportunities of various companies. Currently all investors know that carbon regulation is coming. But despite heroic efforts by the Carbon Disclosure Project, many companies still do not disclose their carbon emissions to their investors. This bill will require all large publicly traded companies to finally let their investors know what they are doing about the climate.

Further, the public will be able to hold companies accountable for their actions to address global warming. Just as we saw with the successful Toxics Release Inventory program, many companies will see the light once they truly become aware of their own impacts. This increased awareness will almost assuredly lead to reduced emissions.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the legislation is that it would require international companies who trade on American stock exchanges to report their emissions abroad as well. No longer will we be in the dark about how foreign operations in developing countries are adding to the world's accumulation of greenhouse gases. This means that we could

finally have a window into what the true emissions of greenhouse gases are in countries that are rapidly developing such as India and China. The disclosures would also provide a strong disincentive for multinationals to relocate facilities abroad just to avoid disclosure or future regulation.

Madam Speaker, in closing I would like to say that we need to accomplish something this Congress to get us on the path toward mandatory emissions cuts. I truly hope that we enact a strong cap and trade bill, but unfortunately the President has made quite clear that he will veto any efforts to enact such legislation. If the President insists on such an unwise decision I hope that at the very least he would consider backing the Greenhouse Gas Accountability Act. Global warming is simply too important for us to play politics with this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my good friend from American Samoa, my classmate, we came to Congress together in 1989, for yielding me this time. I would like to thank Chairman Lantos for marking up this resolution, and for the support of many members of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

I would also like to thank my colleagues. This is the first speech I am making on the House floor since the passing of my dear mother, and I want to thank my colleagues for their support and for their strength and caring for me and my family.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution welcomes a delegation of presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers from 14 Caribbean nations to Washington, D.C., for the Conference on the Caribbean, which will be held next week.

I am the chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and I can tell you that the relationship that the United States has with the Caribbean nations is of paramount importance. In fact, in many of the trips that we have gone on, people have said to us they want the United States to be involved. They have a sense, many times, that we have looked elsewhere, and they don't understand why.

So I think it is important for our subcommittee to be involved, our committee to be involved and for the U.S. Congress to be involved in helping to foster good ties with the Caribbean nations; and of course this resolution lays the groundwork, and the interaction with the delegations from the Caribbean that will be here this week is very, very important.

As Mr. Faleomavaega said, the Caribbean nations are as culturally varied and physically beautiful as anywhere in the world. It is important to expand our strong relationship with the Caribbean Community, also known as CARICOM. This is an historic conference. For the first time in its history, through the coordination of the Caribbean Community, the State Department, the Congress, the Conference on the Caribbean is convening in Washington. I cannot state how important that is and how significant that is and what kind of important role the United States Congress can play.

I am honored to be the chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, and I will do everything in my power to help facilitate relations between the United States, United States Congress and the nations of the Caribbean.

The Foreign Affairs Committee is pleased to be meeting with the members of this delegation on June 20 at 2:30 p.m., and I encourage all our colleagues, both on our committee and on our subcommittee, and even people that are not on our committee, to attend this meeting.

The delegation will also be meeting with President Bush, as well as members of the Ways and Means Committee and the Congressional Black Caucus, and as well as, of course, our Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I visited four Caribbean countries in the last 6 months and have learned much from our friends in the south. In Haiti, leaders are very appreciative for the support of the United States and for the recent passage of the HOPE legislation, but want to make sure we coordinate closely with the government on our assistance plan.

Further to the south, leaders of the many small island nations feel neglected by the United States and are looking for closer cooperation on energy, security, crime, education, health and other issues. Countries like China are stepping in and filling the vacuum left by the United States in these small, but strategically important countries. This is our hemisphere, the Western Hemisphere, and we simply must be more engaged. We cannot stand back and think that other countries are not going to move into the vacuum. You know, we used to go to school when we were kids and learn about the policy of ``hands off the Americas,'' but that's not true anymore. Other countries, like China and like Iran and other places, will step in if we neglect these countries.

Our friends in the Caribbean have offered their support for U.S. efforts to combat global terrorism. With the recent revelation that the suspects from Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana were involved in the plot to blow up JFK Airport in New York City, we need more than ever to work closely with our allies in the Caribbean to defeat terrorism.

I was just in Trinidad with a delegation. We met with the leader of Trinidad, and he told us in emphatic terms how closely he wanted to work with the United States to combat terrorism. They're willing, they're able, they want to work with us. We just need to show that we want to work with them.

Terrorism is not just a single region issue, it impacts all areas of the world. When we have friends reaching out to us in our hemisphere as allies on the war on terror, we must closely engage with them.

I am looking forward to this historic meeting that ushers in a new era of cooperation between the United States and the Caribbean, an area of the world to which, again, I don't believe we have been paying adequate attention.

The United States and the countries of the Caribbean can enhance collaboration in several important areas, including mutually beneficial trade and economic relationships, battling crime, drugs and terrorism, and combating the spread of diseases, including HIV/AIDS. There is also a golden opportunity for the Caribbean nations and the U.S. to cooperate on new and clean energy production technologies. And, again, when we were in Trinidad, we visited some of those technologies, Trinidad being a major supplier of natural gas to the United States of America.

Our relations with the Caribbean also are very important as there are large numbers of Americans of Caribbean heritage, as the gentleman from American Samoa pointed out, making significant contributions to our culture in America. I represent the New York City area district. In New York City and in the suburbs, and in my district alone in New York, there are very, very large numbers of Caribbean residents, including Jamaicans, Haitians, Dominicans, and many, many others. The Dominican Republic is a country that wants to work closely with us, a very important country. Haiti needs our attention. Grenada, where the United States invaded when Ronald Reagan was President, now we seem to be neglecting them. We visited there as well. So these are countries that we need to watch, to work with.

The gentleman on the other side of the aisle mentioned St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It's just coincidental that the foreign minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who will be here, went to college with me some 40 years ago in New York City. And we have maintained our friendship through all those years, never knowing that I would eventually go to Congress and he would become the foreign minister of St. Vincent in the Grenadines. And so I hope to work with him on these issues. His name is Louis Straker. These are important relationships, and we need to continue to foster them.

And finally, we must continue to work on ways of strengthening the relationships that have brought prosperity to many Caribbean nations and that promise to lift up those in need. It

is my hope that our friends in the Caribbean can see some real concrete results coming out of this important Caribbean Conference in Washington.

Let me just conclude by saying the time for rhetoric is over. It is now time for action and a real enhancement of our relations with the Caribbean.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues for their support of this legislation. I thank the chairman. I thank the gentleman from the American Samoa, the gentleman from Arkansas. We all need to work together. This should be bipartisan. This is good for America. We need to strengthen our ties with the Caribbean.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues' strong support of a bill that I am introducing, which would educate the American people about the Nation's transition to digital television broadcasting and help prepare them for the analog cutoff date in February 2009.

As you know, Congress enacted a ``hard date,'' February 17, 2009, by which our TV broadcasters must cease analog broadcasting and only transmit in digital. On that date, anyone who relies on over-the-air broadcasts will need a set-top box to receive and convert digital TV signals in order for their analog TV to continue to work.

The benefits of transitioning to digital TV signals are enormous, most importantly opening up desperately needed spectrum for first responders. I believe the American people will support this transition, but to make this transition a success our constituents need to know and understand why this is happening.

The Federal Communications Commission has been tasked with the responsibility of the success of this transition. If the Commission does not approach the analog cutoff date with care and consideration of the consumer, millions of TV viewing Americans will be left with a black screen.

I am particularly concerned that the FCC is relying heavily on a website to inform consumers about the transition and how to prepare for the analog cutoff day. I believe that this is not enough. According to the GAO, 21 million U.S. households rely on over-the-air television. Many of these households have a combined income of $30,000 or less and do not have immediate access to the internet. I am not convinced that a website will help these families obtain the necessary information to prepare for the transition.

To facilitate this transition and make up for the lack of sufficient education from the FCC, I am introducing the National Digital Television Consumer Education Act. This legislation requires TV retailers to place signs next to analog televisions that will include an advisory that additional equipment is necessary after February 17, 2009 to continue using that TV. The bill also requires broadcasters to air PSAs for more than a year to help educate the public about what is happening and the set-top box subsidy program.

The DTV transition will impact every American. We must do everything to ensure the success of this transition and help our constituents from losing their television transmission in February 2009. I urge my colleagues to co-sponsor this bill which will help prepare the American people for the upcoming transition.

Madam Speaker, Howard Jonas is a very active supporter of several charities nationally and in his community and serves as a trustee on numerous university, hospital, religious, and social service organization boards.

These include New York Presbyterian Hospital, Shaarei Tzedeck Hospital in Jerusalem, Jewish Guild for the Blind, Yeshiva College, AlPAC, Shema Kolainu for Autistic Children, American Friends of Yeshivat B'nei Akiva, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Newark Public Library, International Rescue Committee, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, American Friends of Shalva, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark Public Library, Riverdale Y, Digital Freedom Network, Tuoro College, Yeshivat Hoveivei Torah, SAR, Eidah, Yeshivat Shmuel Yaakov, Fairness Committee, Voices and Bar Ilan University.

In addition Mr. Jonas has been the honorary chairman of The Beth Jacob/Beth Miriam Yeshiva for the past thirteen years. This is an incredible record of accomplishment for one person and I personally am in awe.

Howard is a local boy who graduated from Bronx High School of Science and went on to get a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University.

He also went on to revolutionize international telecommunications. At age 33, he found a way to supply the world with a U.S. dial tone and cheap international long distance rates, creating international ``callback'' telephone service, now an over a billion dollar a year industry.

Howard founded IDT in August 1990 and has served as Chairman of the Board and Treasurer since its inception. He was Chief Executive Officer from December 1991 to August 2001. IDT is known as a model of upstart entrepreneurship, continually innovating and looking for the next great cutting edge business opportunity.

He is also the founder and has been President of Jonas Publishing Corporation, a publisher of trade directories, since its inception in 1979.

Howard Jonas is a man who is generous in his help over a wide area and is someone who has made a significant difference in the life of his community.

Madam Speaker, for more than two decades Dr. Spencer Foreman's leadership has made Montefiore Medical Center (MMC) one of the most forward thinking and academic medical centers in the country. He is a national health leader, and a respected expert in hospital administration and medicine. Dr. Foreman is a member of the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine, a former chairman of the Association of American Medical Colleges and a past trustee of the American Hospital Association. Annually, MMC treats more than 60,000 new patients, has more than 400,000 home visits, and 1.8 million outpatient visits. That, plus an annual budget of more than $1.9 billion, makes it one the largest academic medical centers in the country.

For more than a century, MMC has had a long and distinguished history of meeting the healthcare needs of New Yorkers and patients from around the world.

MMC is one of the most innovative medical centers in the country with a staff of brilliant doctors, nurses and associates on all levels dedicated to giving every patient the highest quality care and service.

This did not happen by accident. The leadership of Dr. Foreman for over two decades led MMC to the top of its class.

I have always been proud to tell people that Montefiore Medical Center is in my Congressional district. It is a mainstay of health care in the Bronx which is famous throughout the world.

But more than that, I have always been delighted to say that Dr. Foreman has been my friend. Dr. Foreman took charge at Montefiore about the same time I came to Congress. For over 18 years we have worked together to better the healthcare system. I count him among my trusted advisors on the state of healthcare in our Nation.

What he has accomplished will continue for generations. He has created a model of health care efficiency to which it can truly be said that thousands owe their lives and well-being. I am proud of the work of Montefiore Medical Center. I am proud of the accomplishments of Dr. Foreman but even more so I am proud of my friend Spike.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join with my colleagues Kay Granger, Tammy Baldwin, Chip Pickering and Randy Kuhl in introducing the ``Home Infusion Therapy Coverage Act of 2007''. This bill would correct long-standing gaps in Medicare coverage for home infusion therapy, and will enable thousands of beneficiaries to obtain these often life-saving therapies in the most convenient and cost-effective setting--their homes.

Currently, most beneficiaries who have severe infections, cancer, congestive heart disease or numerous other diagnoses for which infusion therapy is the clear state-of-the-art treatment must be admitted into hospitals or nursing homes to receive this care. This is most unfortunate, Mr. Speaker. The private sector recognizes the clinical value and cost-effectiveness of home infusion therapy, and as a result full and proper coverage of home infusion therapy is commonplace among private payers. Medicare stands virtually alone in its antiquated coverage policies that discourage the use of a therapy that in actuality should be promoted for its cost savings and convenience.

Home infusion therapy requires the coordination of professional services, supplies and equipment to safely and effectively administer infusion drugs. Part D, the outpatient prescription drug benefit, covers most infusion drugs, but does not cover these services, supplies and equipment necessary to provide infusion therapy in the home. As a result, Part D coverage of home infusion falls far short of its potential to keep patients out of hospitals and nursing homes. Many beneficiaries must pay for the infusion services, supplies and equipment with out-of-pocket funds and most cannot afford this expense. Their only other realistic option is to obtain their care in a hospital or nursing home at a much higher cost burden to our Nation's healthcare system. The clear result is that access to home infusion therapy, despite its potential for cost savings and good clinical outcomes, is needlessly limited.

Our bill is very simple in its approach. It would institute coverage for the home infusion-related services, supplies and equipment under Part B, while maintaining coverage of the drugs themselves under Part D. Medicare Part B clearly is the most appropriate part of the Medicare program for coverage of the non-drug components of the therapy. In addition, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services would apply quality standards that are consistent with the private sector's community standard of care. Both beneficiaries and the Medicare program itself would reap the benefits of broader access to these important medical treatments in the home.

I would like to note that this legislation is strongly supported by a broad coalition of infusion therapy stakeholders, including patient organizations, infusion pharmacies, infectious disease physicians, and manufacturers of infusion drugs. Along with my colleagues, I urge early consideration of this long-overdue bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of six excellent pieces of legislation that would benefit our Nation's veterans.

Unfortunately, due to a family medical emergency, I am unable to be present and vote for these bills today. However, had I been here to vote, each of the six bills would have had my full support.

As we approach Memorial Day, it is important to honor our Nation's servicemen and servicewomen. We would not be a free Nation without the sacrifices that each and every one has made. These six important pieces of legislation are an excellent way to repay some of the debt that we owe all of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and merchant marines.

I support each of these bills, and I urge all of my colleagues to honor our veterans by supporting these bills as well.

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of S. Con. Res. 21, a budget resolution designed and drafted by Democrats to end over a decade of Republican fiscal irresponsibility.

One of the best results of the Democrats gaining the majority in the Congress is the fact that we can realign the priorities of the Federal government. Instead of Republican tax cuts for the richest 1 percent, we can put those same resources into health care for our children and veterans. Instead of driving our Nation deeper and deeper into debt, we can put us back on track towards a balanced budget.

Twelve years of Republican budgets have left our fiscal house in shambles. We are nearly $9 trillion in debt, and if Republicans had their way, we would never end the deficit. However, the Democratic budget resolution is a good first step towards ending the sea of red ink on our budget. Within the next 5 years, we will have balanced the budget, while at the same time providing necessary services to those who need them most.

This budget resolution incorporates the pay-as-you-go rule that the Democrats passed as one of our first acts in the majority. The rule is simple. Any additional funds we spend, or any taxes that we cut, have to be paid for with cuts in other areas.

The budget resolution finally fulfills some of the promises we made to our military veterans. This legislation includes a $6.6 billion increase in veterans spending, which is the largest increase in history. The Congress has failed to meet our obligations for over a decade in providing necessary services to our veterans, and this budget aims to correct some of this neglect.

In addition, this budget also provides $50 billion over 5 years towards children's health care. The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) has been extremely successful in improving access to healthcare for children whose parents earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to purchase private health insurance. Two- thirds of all uninsured children in this nation are actually eligible but not enrolled in SCHIP. With this budget, we can significantly improve health care coverage to millions more children across the country.

This budget resolution will also help protect our Nation from its enemies. The 9/11 recommendations, most of which have been ignored by the Republican Congress, can be implemented under this budget framework. We have also included additional funding for homeland security in order to better ensure the safety of our citizens.

It is no great secret that the Administration has severely underfunded schools across the nation with the No Child Left Behind Act. This is another program we intend to fix with our budget resolution. In this budget, we have included $9.5 billion over what the President requested for fiscal year 2008. This necessary funding will help stop the decline in our Nation's education system.

Mr. Speaker, I do not have nearly enough time to speak about all the benefits of this budget resolution. Programs such as Head Start, LIHEAP, Social Security and Medicare all benefit. Residents of New Orleans and Mississippi benefit from the money to rebuild after Katrina. Higher education students will benefit from increased Pell Grants and we avoid cutting other student aid programs such as Perkins loans and special opportunity block grants, which was proposed in the President's failed budget plan.

I am strongly supportive of this Democratic budget resolution. This bill will go a long way towards putting our fiscal house in order, without relying on the massive middle class tax increase that the President's budget relies upon. I would urge all of my colleagues to support this budget resolution.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 1427, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2007. This legislation is many years in the making, and its consideration today is timely, given the problems we face in the mortgage industry.

In recent years, we have seen serious problems in the subprime mortgage market. Without an effective regulator in the mortgage market, these problems will continue to grow, and we will continue to see more families losing their home to foreclosure.

In addition, H.R. 1427 creates an affordable housing fund for low income individuals and families. This fund will receive a percentage of the investments that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac hold, totaling approximately $500 million a year. This money will help those with low incomes purchase a new home.

The recent problems in the mortgage market have hit those with low incomes harder than any other income bracket. This is exactly the group of people who will be helped most by this bill. And for the first year, the entire reserve fund will be dedicated to those affected by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi. These hurricane stricken areas are in desperate need of assistance, and this bill will provide at least a portion of what they need.

Having a strong regulatory body overseeing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks will give consumers and markets confidence that the housing market is safe. When housing lenders started going under due to the increased number of foreclosures, consumers became increasingly reluctant to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into a new home. If people are confident that a strong regulator will be overseeing the GSEs, it will help to increase consumer confidence in the housing market.

This bill is specifically good for my District in the Bronx, Rockland County and Westchester County in New York. The price of purchasing a home there is staggering, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are limited in the amount of money they can loan for a new home. This limitation makes it more difficult for people in my District to buy their first home. This legislation will help to fix this problem by increasing the limit on loans.

Even though H.R. 1427 will put additional money into low low-income housing assistance, I am proud to say that this bill will not add a single dollar to the national deficit. The majority in this Congress has consistently stuck to the pay-as-you-go rules that we created as one of our first acts of the year.

Madam Chairman, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act is eight years in the making, and it is long overdue. I am happy to support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it as well. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1700, the COPS Improvement Act. The COPS hiring program has been an unqualified success. Since the program first began in 1994, we have seen crime rates plummet throughout the country.

There are many factors one can point to for this drop in crime, but the most obvious one is that the COPS hiring program has given our local governments over $9 billion to hire over 117,000 police officers.

Law enforcement agencies in my district, New York's 17th, have received $625,984,137 in COPS grants since 1994. This funding has translated into 6,997 additional law enforcement officers in my district. Unfortunately, Republicans ended the COPS hiring program last year. A likely result of this, is that crime rates are inching upward.

It is essential that we stay vigilant in our fight against crime by passing the COPS Improvement Act. When this bill passes, law enforcement agencies across the country will be able to add over 50,000 police officers to our streets. In my district, we will gain $190,978,211 in funding and 2,991 more police officers.

But the COPS program is not just about the number of police officers; it is also about giving police officers the tools they need. Since 1994, $26,678,080 in COPS grants have been awarded to law enforcement agencies in the 17th District of New York to purchase technology that enables agencies to put more officers on the beat. This translates into more bulletproof vests and mobile computers.

If the COPS Improvement Act of 2007 passes into law, an additional $8,139,075 in technology grants will likely flow to the 17th District of New York.

Mr. Speaker, I join the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of Police Organizations, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the National League of Cities in urging my colleagues to pass the COPS Improvement Act of 2007.

Madam Speaker, I rise to re-introduce the ALS Registry Act of 2007 with my good friend, Lee Terry of Nebraska. We are proud to have the support of over 80 other bi-partisan members of Congress today as original co-sponsors of this important legislation.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal, progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects motor nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. While the great baseball player, Lou Gehrig, put a national face on ALS over 65 years ago, my own family was personally affected when my grandmother, Dora Engel, was diagnosed with the fatal disease and passed away when she was only in her 50s. Unfortunately, families across the Nation face the challenges and experience the suffering associated with ALS every single day. 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year, and it is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time. The average life expectancy for a person with ALS is two to five years from the time of diagnosis. The causes of ALS are not well understood and there is no known cure. We must provide hope to change this tragedy today.

Surprisingly, a single national patient registry which collects and stores information on the prevalence and incidence of ALS does not currently exist in the United States today. The legislation I am re- introducing with Congressman Terry, would build on a fiscal year 2006 Congressional appropriation which directed the Centers for Disease Control to evaluate the science to guide the creation of a national ALS Registry. The Engel/Terry legislation will create an ALS registry at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and will aid in the search for a cure to this devastating disease. The registry will collect data concerning: the incidence and prevalence of ALS in the United States; the environmental and occupational factors that may contribute to the disease; the age, race or ethnicity, gender and family history of individuals diagnosed; and other information essential to the study of ALS. The information gained from the ALS registry will also strengthen a disease clearinghouse's ability to put patients in contact with scientists conducting clinical trials and scientists studying the environmental and genetic causes of ALS.

We need to provide our Nation's researchers and clinicians with the tools and information they need to make progress in the fight against ALS. The data made available by a national registry will potentially allow scientists to identify causes of the disease, and maybe even lead to the discovery of new treatment, a cure for ALS, or even a way to prevent the disease in the first place. This is good public policy.

The establishment of a registry will bring new hope to thousands of patients and their families that ALS will no longer be a death sentence. I strongly urge the swift consideration and passage of the ALS Registry Act of 2007.

Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Diabetes Treatment and Prevention Act of 2007 with my good friend, Vito Fossella.

There is no question that diabetes is a mounting challenge for our nation's health care system. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of Americans with diagnosed diabetes has doubled over the past 15 years. Over 20 million Americans are currently living with this disease, but 6 million of them have not yet been diagnosed. Another 54 million are classified as ``pre- diabetic,'' with a high-risk of developing this condition. The statistics are simply staggering.

Beyond being a public health threat, Diabetes accounts for over $92 billion in direct medical costs every year, and these numbers are only likely to increase. The Diabetes Treatment and Prevention Act would increase our ability to prevent new cases of diabetes and improve disease management.

Our bill would codify the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Diabetes Translation and set up demonstration grants to allow for further research on how to translate effective diet and exercise interventions for us in the general populations. It would also increase the ability of state and local health departments to engage in surveillance and education activities, and set up demonstration projects to examine the best ways to treat diabetes when it occurs in conjunction with other chronic health conditions.

I am proud that we have taken a multi-pronged approach in this legislation to attack our mounting diabetes epidemic on two fronts; it will promote research at the Centers for Disease Control so that we may better understand this disease while also funding innovative treatment and education efforts at the state and local level.

This legislation, combined with the Engel/Fossella Gestational Diabetes (GEDI) Act (H.R. 1544), which combats growing rates of Diabetes in pregnant women across the nation will go a long way towards managing and preventing the onset of Diabetes.

I urge my colleagues to co-sponsor this legislation today.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 1429, a bill to reauthorize and improve Head Start.

Head Start has been a vital program to our children since the day it was created in 1965 as part of the Great Society. President Lyndon Johnson created the program with the goal of combining education, health, and nutrition programs for low-income children. In its history, over 22 million children have been served by Head Start, including over 900,000 in this year alone.

Head Start provides an excellent foundation for the children who enroll in the program. About 95 percent of the students in Head Start are under five years old, and they are all at or below the poverty line. Without Head Start, a great number of these children would be in substandard preschools, if they were even lucky enough to be enrolled in anything. Head Start gives these kids the years of education they need in order to succeed in future years of schooling.

H.R. 1429 would reauthorize the Head Start program, while at the same time offering improvements that have been necessary but neglected for a number of years.

First, it will improve teacher and classroom quality. H.R. 1429 does this by first increasing teacher salaries in order to attract more and better teachers. Other provisions would require Head Start to use research-based methods to improve literacy and vocabulary. The bill would also provide improved training and technical assistance so teachers will be more educated in science and technology.

The only problem I have today is the Republican discriminatory Motion to Recommit. The Republican leadership wants to institute federally funded discrimination into our Head Start program. They have tried this again and again, and although I support Head Start as much as anybody in this Chamber, I would vehemently oppose this reauthorization if the Motion to Recommit passes. I urge all of my colleagues to oppose the discriminatory Motion to Recommit when it comes to the floor.

Mr. Chairman, I strongly support reauthorizing the Head Start program with the Democratic improvements.

Mr. Chairman, lately it seems as if science itself has been under attack. This Administration seems determined to choose policies that fly in the face of scientific consensus. They have ignored science on the issue of stem cell research, abstinence-only education, and mercury pollution. On climate change, the White House went one step further. The Bush Administration hired a Big Oil lobbyist to edit documents produced by climate scientists in an effort make climate change science seem less certain. These acts have caused some in the scientific community to lose faith in our government.

I believe H.R. 1867, the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2007, will help restore that trust. The bill will provide $21 billion for the National Science Foundation over the next three years to fund critical scientific research.

Mr. Chairman, I have seen how crucial this funding can be right in my own district. The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, a key unit of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, has worked in partnership with the National Science Foundation to facilitate new discoveries and fundamental breakthroughs in Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences that are critical for advancing the understanding of the Earth's dynamic systems.

This work has allowed for a better understanding of volcanoes, earthquakes, and geologic faults. Lamont Doherty has also furthered our understanding of the effects of global warming by mapping massive sub- glacial lakes in Antarctica and studying their role in the loss of ice sheets. The Observatory has also developed new geochemical techniques to allow the mapping of past ice sheets which will help us better understand how the ice sheets on Greenland and Western Antarctica will react to increased global temperatures.

Now, more than ever, it is essential we increase our understanding of how our planetary systems interact and function as a whole. By providing the funds the NSF needs, we are investing in research vital to our national interests. Hopefully, we are also sending a signal to the scientific community that their work is essential to us as policy makers and to us as Americans.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.